A serious look at Mauricio Pochettino

I'd bet my house if I had one that Pochettino is the one to bring balance to the force if we are lucky enough to get him in the summer. You can't compare managing Dortmund and Spurs as a bar to measure the success of a manager. Seems to be a lot on here doing that. Every time Bayern go through a cycle of rebuilding for a year or two then Dortmund come along and easily sweep up every trophy going until Bayern get their act together again. The same doesn't happen in England with Spurs.
What Pochettino is doing at Spurs would be more comparable to say Hoffenheim finishing second in the Bundesliga every year on a shoestring while regularly beating Dortmund and Bayern in the league as well as constantly getting results against the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan in the champions league. Not too mention turning plenty of unheard of kids into big names along the way while playing exciting football.
 
InLevyITrust said:
Totally agree but Levy and Poch have an incredibly good working relationship, I doubt that if Poch really wanted to go he would make him stay it would ruin the dynamic completely. Having said that I honestly believe Poch will honour a contract he only signed last summer, again just my opinion.
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No chance he’s staying at Spurs for 5 more years. That’s wishful thinking especially if you continue to not invest.
 
andreas pippias said:
It's all about timing, and at this time Poch will not join you, and I think your owners deep down know this.
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Nobody, deep down, knows anything apart from Pochettino himself. There will be a lot of Spurs fans on here over the next few months being 'certain' that he won't leave you, and likewise a lot of arrogant United fans claiming we are too good to turn down. Its all bluster.

I'm pretty convinced that every single Spurs fan is at least a little bit concerned about the prospect of losing him to us, and on the flipside most sensible United fans probably believe that its more likely that he will stay at Spurs than leave you for United, because he seems to hold some level of loyalty towards Tottenham. There is no certainty here though. Anyone who says they are certain is a fool.

Football fans are so short-sighted these days. United aren't the dominant football team in the country any more, but we are definitely still the biggest club by a distance. Managers will be licking their lips at the prospect of putting this club back on top. Pochettino won't be remembered in 25 years time if he doesn't win any trophies anywhere, and despite doing an outstanding job at Spurs he hasn't done so. He knows this, and he will already be thinking about his legacy.

People say that United aren't able to click their fingers and get whoever they like anymore. To an extent this is true, we have to work slightly harder than we used to in this moment. I would wager though that in our lifetimes we will not see a story where United are battling to stop their own successful and loved manager from leaving us for another PL club. That is how big our club is, and that is why the thought of taking this job must be a very tempting one for Pochettino.
 
andreas pippias said:
Hi guys, Ive been supporting Spurs for nearly sixty years, and had the fortune to see one of the greatest Man Utd players ever play, George Best, remember him at WHL with four Spurs defenders around him, and he left them for dead,
So good was his skill, I have a lot of respect for Man Utd and what your club has achieved, on Poch to Utd, im sorry but a lot of your fans need to take a reality check.
The days when Man Utd clicked their fingers and Spurs players would jump into a cab and head for Old Trafford are long gone.
Man Utd bigger club, more money, etc etc.. three failed managers, players given up, boss's clueless.
Spurs on the up, best stadium in World football, which will double the revenue allowing better players, higher wages etc etc.
Poch turned down Real, he will turn you down to, on a lighter note, Sol Campbell has more chance of becoming the next Spurs manager then Poch managing Utd.
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You sound like some of the Leicester fans that I heard on the radio after winning the title. Just because your club is reaching the top 4 doesn't mean anything if you don't push on. You won't be able to spend mega money for a couple of years yet and I cannot see Poch wanting to wait that long for a transfer budget. Manchester United is still a bigger pull than Spurs. Fancy stadium or not, given the opportunity I think he would say yes.

The fact a lot of the Spurs contingent on here keep saying it won't happen would suggest to me they're worried he might leave to join us.
 
I just don't see this happening but don't hold me to that. There's enough talk of it and I frankly hardly see anybody as pessimistic as me about it so who knows. Spurs have the whole new ground situation to deal with I guessv(not insurmountable but far from ideal either) and United do remain a bigger club than Tottenham.
 
He ticks every single box. Spend £40-50m buying out his contract, please. It's worth it.
 
Primativ said:
Actually yes I do believe a league win can happen. You forget how difficult it is playing without a home stadium. Would you argue against me if I was to say the Anfield atmosphere plays a big part in Liverpool being very difficult to beat at home? The closest Spurs came to winning the league was two and three seasons ago when they were playing at WHL. In fact, the last season at WHL they didn't lose a single game at home. They are now 3rd and only 5/6 pts behind Liverpool and City despite playing at Wembley this season. Liverpool are currently top of the league, spent a lot of money in the summer, however it was to strengthen positions which Spurs are already strong in, for example CB and GK. It's not like Spurs were in the market for Allison and VVD but lacked the spending power to sign them.

I would say it isn't unrealistic to suggest that Spurs playing back at NWHL will give them at least an extra 5 or 6 points a season, maybe more. To refute that would be to suggest home teams don't find it favourable playing in front of a packed home stadium (which Wembley is certainly not).

Whilst Spurs do need to strengthen, I don't think think we are very far off being able to win the league, and I am sure Poch believes that too. You seem to act like we are miles away, and need to spend 200 million to win the league. We don't. If the referee had given us the rightful penalty in injury time v Liverpool, and Kane had scored an easy chance against City, Spurs would practically be level 1st. That's how fine the margins are, hardly something Poch needs to walk away from to realise his dream of winning a title. In fact, given our position, if we were to go on a long winning from now till Feb/ March, we would very easily find ourselves in touching distance of a league title. Possibly needing to go to City and Anfield and win both, difficult but not impossible.

Furthermore, I notice all the articles fabricating that Poch is keen on United left out his quotes from yesterday which said

"I'm happy here in Tottenham and I have four-and-a-half years left on my contract. I understand you're interested because there are a lot of rumours but look, I'm happy here, trying to give my best to the club."
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If you're going to use his overly generic comments in the press as an indication of his true motives, then it's only fair to throw a few of his less generic, more heartfelt press statements in response.

Poch had this to say on the lack of investment by the club last summer:

“The season so far, it’s strange because my feeling is the worst feeling I’ve had in the five years that I’ve been here,” he said. “It’s the worst. My feeling, but it’s the best start ever for the club in the Premier League. It’s strange, no?

Poch had this to say after Spurs failed to beat PSV in an important CL encounter:

“I think, as a team, we still didn’t win nothing,” he said. “We fail but we achieve. And of course always when we arrive at like a final game, we always fail. Or maybe we are never going to learn because we have some quality but we cannot cross this level. I prefer to think that we will learn more and we need more time to improve as a team. Still, we are not showing that level to be a real contender. That is my opinion."
 
He's defo a good fit but the question is: Can we realistically pry him out of Levy's dead, cold hands after signing a 6-year contract just weeks ago?
 
Can we do a double swoop and get Levy and Poch? No one would see that coming haha!
 
hellohello said:
I believe Spurs can win the league, even this season I still view us as challengers. It's a long shot, but far from impossible. It's hard for any club to challenge the money doped City at the moment, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. As a stable top 4 club, with the correct manager and mindset we could win the title one of the next few seasons if things go our way. I fully understand where you're coming from though, and I'm not really disagreeing with you, but yes I think Spurs can improve. Having a home ground will help the team, there are clear parts of the team we can improve upon, and even Pochettino is improving as a manager imo. The worry is keeping Eriksen.
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I think Eriksen's fate is tied directly to that of his manager's decision on whether to stay or leave. If Poch does join United, I can see Eriksen following him out of the club, but not to United due to the no-transfer policy that will inevitably exist between the clubs after the Poch to United deal is brokered (or should I say if it is brokered), so it is imperative that Poch remains at Spurs in that regard. You're not wrong where City are concerned, it will take a monumental effort to reel them in considering the sheer chasm that exists between them and the chasing pack at present. That and a whole lot of cash.

hellohello said:
I think Poch may view it as a challenge to win with Spurs, and I think he would enjoy winning with Spurs more than he would at for example PSG or City simply because of the challenge. And Spurs is not a tiny club, we are the 11th wealthiest club in the world iirc, and he will be able to bring in top players. Our spending power will improve, although it will still be lower than all other top 6 clubs for the foreseeable future.
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A point which many on here continually make, only to be refuted by the nameless one. But that's the point isn't, Spurs will never have the financial power to compete with the big boys. That's not arrogance either, just a simple truth.

Believe me, of all the clubs in with a shout of winning the league this year, Spurs are far and away the most attractive option for United fans, but in all likelihood it won't happen. City are simply too good.
 
Random Task said:
I think Eriksen's fate is tied directly to that of his manager's decision on whether to stay or leave. If Poch does join United, I can see Eriksen following him out of the club, but not to United due to the no-transfer policy that will inevitably exist between the clubs after the Poch to United deal is brokered (or should I say if it is brokered), so it is imperative that Poch remains at Spurs in that regard. You're not wrong where City are concerned, it will take a monumental effort to reel them in considering the sheer chasm that exists between them and the chasing pack at present. That and a whole lot of cash.
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Actually Eriksen is holding out to see if Barcelona come in for him. Which is his dream club and the only club he will consider leaving Spurs for. If they make a move, he will leave, otherwise, he will sign a new contract. It's them or nothing, he doens't have an interest in another English club for example.
 
spiriticon said:
He's defo a good fit but the question is: Can we realistically pry him out of Levy's dead, cold hands after signing a 6-year contract just weeks ago?
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Like many have said, the only way is for him to come out and say he wants out. He'll be painted as the bad guy, but he needs to decide if it's what he wants. Also, what happens if he does shit next season? Is he out? If so, I wouldn't come if I was him.
 
Random Task said:
I think Eriksen's fate is tied directly to that of his manager's decision on whether to stay or leave. If Poch does join United, I can see Eriksen following him out of the club, but not to United due to the no-transfer policy that will inevitably exist between the clubs after the Poch to United deal is brokered (or should I say if it is brokered), so it is imperative that Poch remains at Spurs in that regard. You're not wrong where City are concerned, it will take a monumental effort to reel them in considering the sheer chasm that exists between them and the chasing pack at present. That and a whole lot of cash.



A point which many on here continually make, only to be refuted by the nameless one. But that's the point isn't, Spurs will never have the financial power to compete with the big boys. That's not arrogance either, just a simple truth.

Believe me, of all the clubs in with a shout of winning the league this year, Spurs are far and away the most attractive option for United fans, but in all likelihood it won't happen. City are simply too good.
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Agree with everything, although Eriksen could leave to one of the Spanish giants (probably Barcelona) even if Poch stays imo.

It is a little sad to see how a club can just spend 50 million as if it's nothing on back up players. Makes it extremely hard to compete on an even somewhat equal footing. The league as a whole would be better without Manchester City.

spiriticon said:
He's defo a good fit but the question is: Can we realistically pry him out of Levy's dead, cold hands after signing a 6-year contract just weeks ago?
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Haha, Levy is such a villain for acting in the best interest of the club ;)
 
hellohello said:
Haha, Levy is such a villain for acting in the best interest of the club ;)
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Oh I don't regard Levy as a villain at all. He is class. If I were him I'd chain Poch to the dugout and burn all the phone lines at his office.

I fear more for the part of our fanbase who think its a simple job of paying up the money. If Poch doesn't actively want out, he goes nowhere. And quite frankly I don't think Poch is motivated enough to bust his way out of Spurs for us.
 
GlastonSpur said:
No-one has ever said that Spurs will be able to pay off stadium debt in just two years, so who knows where you get that artificial Aunt Sally from.

Item 2 has been trotted out every year for several years past, with the usual dire predictions that have all bitten the dust. In the last few months alone several players have signed new contracts, not least Kane, Alli and Son.

Item 3 is based on two questionable assumptions: (a) that trophies can't be won without spending lots; and (b) that Spurs won't be increasing the net-spend budget available for Pochettino over the next two years.

As to your question: who knows, but certainly more than has been made available thus far.
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I clearly did not mean pay off the entire stadium debt in 2 years. Do you not think these questions will be in Pochettino's mind? You make out like he hasn't a worry in the world at Spurs at the moment, but to me it seems like there are clear barriers in place if his mission is to bring Spurs to the next level.
 
You may get Poch in the summer, but getting some of their players as well is probably not going to happen unless their contracts have nearly ran their course.

Spurs don't sell their current players to their direct rivals. So Man Utd will have to pay a fair bit to get the likes of Eriksen.
 
Random Task said:
… A point which many on here continually make, only to be refuted by the nameless one. But that's the point isn't, Spurs will never have the financial power to compete with the big boys. That's not arrogance either, just a simple truth ….
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Sorry, but that's not the truth: you're living in the past, ignorant of recent changes and what's coming down the pipeline.

As I've explained several times already, our club income will soon roughly match or exceed that of Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. Or is the "big boys" financial club now to re-defined so as to only include City and United?

Our spending power (not the same as income) will remain lower for some time, due the stadium debt servicing, but this phase will eventually pass.
 
Don't really follow the state of Spurs' squad, but considering their lack of transfer activity in the summer and confirmation from Pochettino that they won't be buying in January, are there really no areas that need improving with any urgency?
 
I'm not well versed about their financial situation, but what was the reasoning from their board for not spending money on a single player this year? Was it due to non-availability of targets, or is the money not just there?

I seem to recall Arsenal struggling to spend big/pay big wages after moving into their new stadium, and they were CL regulars at the time making deep runs more often than not. I just wonder if their situations are in any way comparable, if money would be tied for for foreseeable future due to stadia debt.
 
Drawfull said:
Don't really follow the state of Spurs' squad, but considering their lack of transfer activity in the summer and confirmation from Pochettino that they won't be buying in January, are there really no areas that need improving with any urgency?
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Their midfield.
I think the man is a genius. People have called me a fan boy over the years but I really do think he's underappreciated.
I look at their central pairing most weeks and wonder how they win so many games. It's usually pure shit.
 
Kush said:
I'm not well versed about their financial situation, but what was the reasoning from their board for not spending money on a single player this year? Was it due to non-availability of targets, or is the money not just there?

I seem to recall Arsenal struggling to spend big/pay big wages after moving into their new stadium, and they were CL regulars at the time making deep runs more often than not. I just wonder if their situations are in any way comparable, if money would be tied for for foreseeable future due to stadia debt.
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He implied in the presser that the coffers are empty. He showed his empty pocket twice when asked about spending on players.
 
Kush said:
I'm not well versed about their financial situation, but what was the reasoning from their board for not spending money on a single player this year? Was it due to non-availability of targets, or is the money not just there?

I seem to recall Arsenal struggling to spend big/pay big wages after moving into their new stadium, and they were CL regulars at the time making deep runs more often than not. I just wonder if their situations are in any way comparable, if money would be tied for for foreseeable future due to stadia debt.
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Combination of factors. Levy won't overpay for players. That belief is heghtened when they don't have too much money to work with.
The fact is that they are not at the front of the table for top players because they don't pay huge wages. So there's no point overpaying for a player that's not top tier and not much better than what they have.
 
Adisa said:
Their midfield.
I think the man is a genius. People have called me a fan boy over the years but I really do think he's underappreciated.
I look at their central pairing most weeks and wonder how they win so many games. It's usually pure shit.
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Was my exact thought about Fergie the last few years.

We could use another player in central mid for sure.
 
The thing about spending is, I don't think Levy will put Spurs at financial risk, even at the risk of losing Pochettino.
There has been talk of selling a stake in the club. I think that has to happen at some point in the near future.
 
Adisa said:
The thing about spending is, I don't think Levy will put Spurs at financial risk, even at the risk of losing Pochettino.
There has been talk of selling a stake in the club. I think that has to happen at some point in the near future.
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I think it will happen very, very soon and I think it will be tied to the naming rights of the stadium. The new stadium was the end game for ENIC, especially with the NFL franchise. Spurs won’t be in any financial risk, Levy is tight with the purse strings because Spurs were bought as an investment. Joe Lewis is minted if he changed his mind tomorrow and wanted to run with the club there would be plenty of financial backing available, alas he won’t.
 
InLevyITrust said:
I think it will happen very, very soon and I think it will be tied to the naming rights of the stadium. The new stadium was the end game for ENIC, especially with the NFL franchise. Spurs won’t be in any financial risk, Levy is tight with the purse strings because Spurs were bought as an investment. Joe Lewis is minted if he changed his mind tomorrow and wanted to run with the club there would be plenty of financial backing available, alas he won’t.
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What makes you think he'll sell? Levy is a spurs fan iirc and it's going rather well. Or is it not down to Levy at all in your view?
 
hellohello said:
What makes you think he'll sell? Levy is a spurs fan iirc and it's going rather well. Or is it not down to Levy at all in your view?
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Apparently both Lewis and Levy are big Tottenham fans, I think that has shown with the job they have done, the training facility the new ground etc, they have really worked to get the club into a position now where we are competing for top for with clubs who have superior sums of money to spend.

I think, sadly, if the market stays the way it is the only way to truely be competitive is to have a big, rich backer with shit loads of cash to spend who don’t really care about the bottom line at the end of the year. Maybe they won’t sell all of the club, maybe they will still want to retain a controlling share, maybe they won’t, I just see the time is right with the moving to a new ground. Could be totally wrong of course.
 
Pochettino could come to regret the lack of a buyout clause because Levy, in theory, could demand a transfer fee for him, over and above the value of the remaining years on his contract.


All up to Levy then :)
 
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